Avery Anna has got her eye on the prize. That is— becoming a household name, selling out venues and making music everyone can relate to.
At only 18-years-old, she’s already on her way in doing so.
She attended the 2022 CMA Music Festival in Nashville, TN for the first time performing on the Maui Jim Reverb Stage, as well as at Ascend Amphitheater during Warner Music Nashville’s showcase with a special announcement.
“I’m going to do a surprise performance [at Ascend] because I signed with Warner [Music Nashville],” Anna told Celeb Secrets Country reporter Blakely McHugh during the four-day festival. “They are just the coolest so it’s going to be awesome.”
At the performance on June 11, WMN co-presidents Cris Lacy and Ben Kline presented her with a YouTube plaque for gaining over 100,000 subscribers on the streaming platform.
“There is a spirit of poetic ease and confidence with which Avery writes, plays, and sings,” Warner Music Nashville Co-President Cris Lacy said. “It belies her age, and you can’t help but be captivated by that much talent and joy coming from the stage.”
Photo Credit: Alan Poizner
The co-presidents announced to the packed crowd that the breakout artist is now a WMN recording artist. Fans in attendance immediately started cheering and clapping for Anna before being surprised with an unforgettable performance of her song, “Narcissist.”
She performed alongside Ingrid Andress, Tyler Braden, Shy Carter, Randall King and headliner Cole Swindell.
Shortly after her performance, she went on Instagram to thank her fans saying, “Thank you to all the fans that took me from the bathtub on TikTok, all the way to here. I love you guys.”
Avery Anna performs at Ascend Amphitheater on Saturday, June 11 during CMA Fest 2022 in downtown Nashville. Courtesy of CMA.
The Arizona native graduated from high school just a week and half before heading out to Nashville for the festival. Up until recently, she never thought her life would go in this direction.
“I remember going to Taylor Swift concerts when I was little and thinking, “she is so lucky, that is just amazing, I would love to do that,” but I would always tell myself that I couldn’t.”
The TikTok star said she imagined herself going to college and playing volleyball, but then she got recognized by WMN record label.
“When this opportunity happened it was like, “oh I can, I can do that.”
Avery Anna performs at the Maui Jim Reverb Stage on Friday, June 10 during the 2022 CMA Music Festival in downtown Nashville. Courtesy of CMA.
Her start in the industry began with her singing in the bathroom — who can relate? She started posting her videos on TikTok and two years later, amassed 1.5 million followers and over 26.4 million likes.
Her song “Narcissist” went viral on the social media app, and since it was released last year, its garnered nearly 70 million global streams and topped SiriusXM The Highway’s Hot 30 Countdown.
“I felt so alone, so seeing that that many people resonate with it makes me sad but is super comforting for me and I’m sure for them too,” she said about her hit song, “Narcissist.”
Since then, she’s released five other songs and is working on more.
Last month, she dropped a new song, “Critic” detailing what it’s like being with a partner who criticizes everything you do.
So far, it’s gained over 600k streams on Spotify.
“There’s lots of things I can release, but we’ll see,” Anna said about putting out more music. “I don’t just sing sad songs, I sing mad songs, and happy songs and everything in between.”
For more coverage from CMA Fest, click here.
